Posted
by
samzenpuson Wednesday May 09, 2012 @05:20PM
from the things-we-knew dept.

TheGift73 writes with a Techdirt story about a House Oversight Committee report that is very critical of the TSA's handling of money. "The House Oversight Committee has come out with a report slamming the TSA for tremendous amounts of waste, specifically in the 'deployment and storage' of its scanning equipment. Basically, it sounds like the TSA likes to go on giant spending sprees, buying up security equipment and then never, ever using it." Earlier this month Rand Paul laid out his plan for dealing with the TSA.

Given that Rand Paul frequently lumps so many things that are disconnected together(i.e Fed employees make more than the average American)....I don't think it is too bad that they got him confused with his Dad.

Note: The error with the Federal Employee comparison is that it would be more apt to compare Federal employment to a large company like 3M(with a large number of professional employees) than to compare it with the entire population of the country which has a high number of minimum wage employees and

Yeah, except that both the link he posted and the title of the article clearly say "Rand" instead of "Ron". Anyone with 1/10th a brain would have gotten it right. The Slashdot editors seem to be lacking even that much mental prowess.

Federal employees in professional jobs also make more than their private-sector counterparts these days (if you measure total comp, critically pension benefits), is the thing. It used to be that public sector meant lower pay but stable job and short hours, but that just hasn't been the case for a while now.

Oh well, eventually we'll either make cuts or the government will collapse under its own weight, and either way the comp issue will be corrected.

I suspect that has more to do with the private sector getting shittier, than with the public sector getting better. Why not raise private wages and benefits to match or exceed those in the public sector instead?

Remind me why we allow them to move jobs overseas? Free markets are fine if they produce a greater benefit to the people than any alternative, but if they don't, we shouldn't pause for a moment to intervene to ensure a more useful outcome. A variety of options present themselves, including strengthening unions (whilst keeping out corruption), limiting the freedom of movement of capital (and perhaps the accumulation of over large amounts of the same), weakening the dollar, taxing imports from countries that

Government does produce wealth, by tackling matters of public good which the private sector is unwilling or unable to handle, and by dealing with market failures, and by regulating private entities that are unwilling or unable to act in a restrained manner. However, government should not act for its own benefit, but instead for the benefit of its citizenry, residents, and others, somewhat like a non-profit organization, so this might not be apparent to you.

If you think about it part of the reason why the private sector is doing worse is because the public sector is doing better. Since the government doesn't produce wealth just consumes it, the private sector's wealth is being transferred to the public sector.

So when the government builds the interstate highway system or a new bridge, hiring contractors to do the actual paving, etc, that is not producing wealth? If that's just "transfer of wealth" in your book, then no activity private or public produces wealth.

It's actually pretty astonishing how many really good people are in the level of government just beneath senior leadership. We know people who work 12-16 hours a day at extremely high-stress, difficult jobs that would stretch the capabilities of most people. They love working in government despite the fact that they would get an instant raise of +25% (and the chance to get an annual bonus) if they moved to the private sector. The book "To Big to Fail" has a great description of Paulson looking at his staff

Note, the politicians will spin this either way for their own benefit...

But in the end, TSA's mission was something no one knew how to figure out.

And much like the Space Program, which had a lot of failures before Apollo, if you don't know what the solution is, it's going to cost a lot. Ask any researcher, it's going to be wasteful and big budget. If TSA knew how to solve it's mission beforehand everything would be peachy: e.g. standard gov't waste.

We could achieve the same economic effect with much less fuss if we'd just pay all the TSA inspectors to stay home and dress up as Barney Fife while we groped ourselves. Probably be a better economic stimulus in other ways, too, if y'know what I mean.

You forgot to include the value of the items stolen by TSA employees, and items confiscated because they are alleged security hazards. Also, if you value the time of travelers as anything greater than zero, the needless delays imposed by TSA practices should be included.

You forgot to include the value of the items stolen by TSA employees, and items confiscated because they are alleged security hazards. Also, if you value the time of travelers as anything greater than zero, the needless delays imposed by TSA practices should be included.

Don't forget:1. Lost value from people who no longer fly due to the TSA2. Lost value from International tourism which no longer happens because of the TSA3. Lost jobs from damage to the tourism industry4. Projects canceled because of all of the above

The TSA was designed by private interests for the benefit of private interests. Those flying private or charter never need fear. Everyone else, well, ultimately you are the enemy of the 1% and a threat to their existence, a threat that needs to be controlled and taught it's place. You or your family have no right to privacy not of their possessions or of their body. Upon demand you and you family will present themselves naked to be physically molested at will. When the real intent of the TSA is corrupt don't be surprised when the organisation becomes corrupt. Reality want change then demand TSA conduct the same activity for private and charter flights, watch how fast the law changes after that.

not to excuse any of it, but is the groping really so prevalent? i flew recently and didnt have an issue.

in japan i get groped at the airport security line, but it is by cute girls (the only kind of girls japanese airlines will hire, it seems).six different girls have stuck their hands down the front of my pants to feel my zipper or something. i dont know, i dont complain. dont have to take my shoes off, either.

japan isnt turning into america, the japanese are just like that about foreigners, and they've been so for a very long time.if you think visiting is tough (its not), then emigrating (including citizenship to get away from paying US taxes when you dont live in the US) is impossible (in reality it is merely very difficult).

its just one of those (little) things you need to get used to as a foreigner here.

Wow, the sites that page links to have some really interesting things for sale—even children! [imgbox.com] Makes for a great new parental threat: "Bratleigh, don't forget, little boys and girls that misbehave at the airport are confiscated by the TSA and auctioned off to meaner parents..."

In addition to what tato said, you're also missing opportunity cost.
Imagine what great and wonderful things could be accomplished if that capital stayed in the hands of its rightful owners (i.e. the taxpayers) where it could be invested or used to buy innovative products and services. Or if the thousands of people, who have died because they'd rather risk the higher fatality rates of the highways than get sexually assaulted at the airport, had lived to be creative and productive.

bic. bic lighters are making a fucking fortune as a result of the TSA. more disposable and ubiquitous at airports than nail clippers. there are more people who smoke daily than people who happen to need a nail clipper that week.

But imagine how bad it would have been if we didn't have the US government protecting us from terrorists...by helping the underwear bomber get on the plane, ignoring that he was on the watch list, and giving him a dud bomb?

TSA is a giant waste of money, unless you have stock in a nail-clipper supply company.

Oh, the list goes on! The whole industry formed around the idea of providing
3-oz plastic bottles (took years until something convenient came to the market, btw)
TSA-approved locks on the luggage
The water/soda vendors in the airport almost doubled their prices.
TSA-approved laptop bags that make it easier to flip them open
All we need now is self-removing shoes.

I'm thinking that'd be an improvement on any candidate in the field. At least it'd stop all this bullshit of outlawing marriages/same-sex unions. Seriously, if you ain't involved in one, why should you care?

Looks like at least someone in Congress has two brain cells to rub together. Or did they just realize that the prevailing political wind was strongly turning against the TSA and that supporting it would look bad come election time? Actually, come to think of it, I don't care: either way, lets hope it goes past "slamming" and turns into "slamming their doors shut".

Unfortunately, "wasting" in this case doesn't refer to security theatre. The "wasting" that the oversight committee is complaining about here is that the TSA is lots of props for their theatre, but not putting on a performance.

If the TSA actually used what they bought, regardless of whether that actually made anyone any safer or not, that would entirely satisfy the oversight committee.

Unfortunately, "wasting" in this case doesn't refer to security theatre.

Actually, it does. Buying stuff on the premise that buying and using it will create security and not using it is a form of security theater. (Its a form of security theater directed mostly at Congress rather than travelers, but it is theater nonetheless.)

If the TSA actually used what they bought, regardless of whether that actually made anyone any safer or not, that would entirely satisfy the oversight committee.

There are so many ways to get weapons in past that so called 'security' it's insane. Part of the method of doing it is by not walking in with something that has ACME EXPLOSIVES printed on it in large red letters. But seriously, there are many ways for someone good at social engineering, chemistry, long term planning, weapon design, slight of hand, or a few other things to get a potentially lethal weapon in. And by the way, you really only need one of those skills.If you have a group of suicide willing sucke

Now what I propose is that I (70) and all other over 65 show up at the airport in a bathrobe and slippers (nothing else) send your belongings ahead via FedEx or UPS, and before entering the screening area, kick off the slippers and take off the bathrobe, REMEMBER, OVER 65 ONLY! Insist on a hand search (I've got some hiding places I want explored)!

No, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance (--Thomas Jefferson [quotedb.com]). In that regard, we citizens of America have failed horrendously.

This is but an interesting sideline, however, since I believe what you were trying to say is that the price of safety and security (or at least, "the appearance of...") is freedom, since we seem to have offered our freedom up wholesale for TSA's security theater.

You wanna make an absolute terror scene? Roll a carryon sized bag full of explosives into the middle of a TSA line on the day before Thanksgiving in a major airport. It's likely that you will kill a thousand or more people, will be on the news for weeks, and will absolutely freak out anyone who is going to fly somewhere. It's the soft spot of the target. Coordinate a dozen of these one-man wrecking balls to go off within a minute of so of each other, and you can take out not just 4X as many people as on 9/11 with the same number of "hijackers" but shut down the entire air traffic system of the US on the busiest travel day of the year.

All made possible by the TSA policies and the screening intensity escalation.

Wasn't the whole POINT of the TSA to waste taxpayer money doing nothing?

I heard through the grape vine that Homeland Security sends dump-trucks with their offices supplies into the desert at night. You can only use so many post-it notes to write; "#2 in Al Qaeda caught / blowed up!"

If we abolished the TSA what are all the pedophiles and peeping toms going to do with themselves? They'd probably end up getting in trouble. With the TSA they have a 100% legal outlet for their sexual urges and cravings.

PedoBob's schedule:9am-12am: Man the peep booth and exercise the fleshlight [wikipedia.org] and anal vibrator.1pm-3pm: Fondle little boys' dicks and balls and slide your fingers down their ass crack, pausing for a nice feel up of the anus. Don't forget to enjoy the sensual scalp message. Carefully remember

Every law enforcement agency in the land has learned the value of sensationalizing the war on drugs. Every time they take more than an ounce of pot off a college kid there's on the news talking about what a great bust this was. Given that in the last 11 years passengers en route have subdued no less than 3, people in a position to take down the plane :

Shoe bomber
Underwear bomber
Nutzo pilot on Jet Blue

Clearly passengers and crew can handle a wide range of threats in the air. During this time TSA has had exactly 0 of these kinds of press conferences regarding stoping a plot AT the airport what value is the TSA adding again?

On a side note air-charter (14 CFR Part 135) opperators do not have their passengers screened by the TSA, were never required to install bullet proof doors at the cockpit and can and do opperate the same aircraft types that scheduled air cariers opperate.

If the government has to spend a bunch of money to make sure that doesn't happen, I'm perfectly okay with that.

What happens when they spend the money and it still happens? Is that cool, too? These guys are fucking criminals, I proctored the TSA testing for 3 years. Believe me, half of them looked like they were either under the influence of narcotics or had more than a passing familiarity with them. You are absolutely no safer with them then you were with the security you had before 9/11.

>>>The TSA's whole job is to keep radical idiots from blowing me and my family up in mid air.

You're worried about the 1 in 700 million odds of death-by-terrorist. And yet you stuff your face with fat & sugar, which WILL kill you through artery blockage. Way to totally invalidate your original argument.

Stop being afraid of unlikely events like death-by-terrorist, death-by-tsunami, or death-by-meteorite, and focus on the REAL killers like heart attack, brain stroke, cancer, or driving to work in your car. Those are the things that kill 99.999% of Americans.

Dihydrogenmonoxide is not only dangerous when inhaled, ingested in quantities, it causes CATASTROPHIC events killing THOUSANDS each year! It's never ben publicized but it caused major damage in New Orleans after Katrina. Even months AFTER the storm was gone! Why does the government hush it up?
Do not mock this tragedy! Not only for our children, for our children's children!

Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.
Lisa: That's specious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, dear.
Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Oh, how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn't work.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: It's just a stupid rock.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don't see any tigers around, do you?
[Homer thinks of this, then pulls out some money]
Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
[Lisa refuses at first, then takes the exchange]

Alas, the TSA isn't even that good. You'd have to throw in Moe beating a bear with a 2x4 while the Bear Patrol is busy raiding the nursery school for it's stuffed toys to complete the picture (to be on the safe side, show them tazing the babies).

The TSA's whole job is to keep radical idiots from blowing me and my family up in mid air. If the government has to spend a bunch of money to make sure that doesn't happen, I'm perfectly okay with that. Seriously, $200M. How many millionaires can't afford to pay a few extra bucks in taxes every year to make sure 300 million plus people can fly safely?

Please list the people the TSA have stopped from blowing you and your family up.

...that the contractors making bank here are controlled by republicans?

Of course they are. We all know that democrats are saints and only Evil Republicans like Obama would trample all over the Constitution and run up huge deficits. Only Evil Republicans would ever run guns into another country like that evil Republican AG Holder.